Doctor Who 50th anniversary schedule revealed: It’s going to be big

First Doctor Who William Hartnell will star in a newly remastered version of the earliest Doctor Who story An Unearthly Child as part of the BBC’s 50th anniversary programming, (Picture: AP)

It’s still more than two months until the 50th anniversary of the first airing of Doctor Who on November 23rd 1963, but the BBC are not proving shy in revealing how they will be celebrating.

Now we have the name of the 50th Anniversary show, The Day of the Doctor, and a few more new details. It will be 75 minutes long and globally simulcast (which I suppose means some fans in Australia will tune in in the middle of the night). Who showrunner Steven Moffat has also promised that the 50th will takeover our screens.

We also knew that Mark Gattiss has written a docudrama for BBC 4 about the genesis of the show called An Adventure in Time and Space. To accompany that a newly tarted up print of the first Doctor Who story An Unearthly Child will also be broadcast.

Let’s hope Moffat really hits the bullseye with the 50th special.

On BBC 2, The Culture Show will have a special edition called Me, You and Doctor Who where dedicated Whovian Matthew Sweet will look at the cultural significance of Who. On Radio 2, a 90-minute documentary called Who Is The Doctor? will feature new and archived audio footage. Doubtless too as the Doctor Who publicity machine cranks into action we’ll see more and more Who stuff in the media. It ‘s going to be big.

And therein might lie the problem. The BBC are clearly pulling out all the stops to make Doctor Who’s 50th birthday a ratings barnstormer. But there is a risk in raising expectations into the stratosphere. It call counts for nought if the The Day of the Doctor, the 50th anniversary itself starring David Tennant, Matt Smith and John Hurt as the Doctor, turns out to be a bit pony.

Sometimes, especially since the 2005 reboot, the big celebratory episodes have proved to be damp squibs. The honest Whovian will confess to having sat through a fair few decidedly ropey Christmas specials. (Who remembers the enormous Cyberman stalking Victorian London? That was a real low point.)

So let’s hope Moffat really hits the bullseye with the 50th special. If it doesn’t sparkle, it could be a real blow for the Beeb. Still, it’s got David Tennant and Billie Pier in it. John Hurt and Matt Smith too. Daleks, Cybermen and UNIT. So it has every chance of being absolutely fantastic. Roll on November 23rd.

Metro Blogs is a place for opinions. These opinions belong to the author and are not necessarily shared by Metro.